Bloodied Snow
by WritersElemental
Summary: After the Tooth Palace got attacked, Jack & Tooth stayed behind to try & find something in the remains to help the battle. Suddenly, they got teleported to another world-and their powers were gone! Katniss has survived the games, Peeta has not, & she & Gale come upon strangers in the forest. Rated M for possible later content. Sucky summary, better story (hopefully). R&R Please!
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: We do not own Rise of the Guardians or Hunger Games (much though we wish we could be that awesome) Thank you._**

**May the odds be **_**EVER**_**in your favor!**! ;)

-ROTG POV

Update summary: **With the attack Pitch had made upon the Tooth palace, Toothiana was frantic to find some sign of something left behind, some sign that the damage was not as extensive as she had originally thought. Worried about it, she requested to stay behind while Sandy, Bunnymund, and North made the rounds. Jack volunteered to stay with her, so that she would not be alone for Pitch to attack, and because he was worried for her as well.**

"Oooh… Jack, I'm so worried!" Toothiana fretted as she fluttered around her Palace. Jack Frost floated with the wind's assistance out of her way. "There's so much damage… so many teeth are gone. Memories are lost. My fairies have been captured… The damage is extensive!"

Jack nodded, but before he could speak, Baby Tooth chirped and zipped towards her Queen. Tooth cupped her hands protectively around the little fairy. "Oh, little one! I know you're here. At least you're safe…" She looked sadly into the sky. "I wish I could say the same for the rest of them…"

Worried that she may start to get further depressed, Jack landed, and tapped his staff against the floor of the balcony to get her attention. "Uh… who knows… maybe Pitch and his Nightmares missed something? Is there any place they might not have thought to look?"

Tooth thought a moment, zipping about in a small space, sorting through the possible places in her mind. Jack was worried about her. Pitch had attacked her home, had stolen or captured everything that mattered to her. North himself had whispered to Jack as they had left that Tooth may get seriously depressed. It was up to Jack to keep her from dwelling on the attack, and to keep her moving forward.

"Oh!" Tooth exclaimed. "There is at least one-could you come up and help me search it?" She came close, within half a foot of Jack.

He flushed a painful purple. "You-you want my help? But… what if I start freezing stuff? What if I start causing more harm than good?" He was genuinely worried. Sometimes he couldn't control his powers very well at all. What if he accidentally froze something important? What if he broke something important?

Tooth waved his worries off. "You are more of a help than a harm, Jack. No matter what you protest." She flushed as well. "And…I enjoy your company…" She trailed off, uncertain how to continue.

As the awkward silence ensued, Jack struggled to find a way to end it, his brain too muddled to think. "Ah-uh-eh-heh-ahhh… ahm… I would love accompanying you," Jack replied, in his embarrassment reverting back to the old-fashioned manners that seemed to be a part of him since he could remember.

Tooth grinned brightly in return. "Great!" She exclaimed, grabbing his hand and leading him upwards, towards the main golden dome of her palace, barely giving him enough time to mentally call up the wind to help him.

Reaching the dome, Tooth gently pushed against a hidden panel on the side, which clicked inward, and slid sideways, revealing a small doorway into a lush room. Tooth fluttered inside, the doorway being the perfect height for her. Jack ducked inside after her, and stood in one of the taller areas, gazing around himself in wonder.

Plush blankets and cushions littered the floor, and a closet was built on one side. Jack wondered how, for a moment, before he realized that the wall it was on was straight, not curved, meaning that the wall was built on the inside of the dome, providing a small amount of space for some clothing and accessories Tooth might wear. As said fairy fluttered around the cluttered room, Jack gazed about, barely taking in all the knick-knacks, before noticing a small red box with a white crystal as a handle starting to tip over off of a shelf. "Ah-Tooth, look out!"

The box looked as though it were fragile, and Tooth couldn't tell what he was warning her about. Dashing forwards to catch it, with the wind's aide, Jack got his palm beneath it a few moments before it could crash against the ground. Sighing with relief, he held the box up, so that Tooth could see it. "I'm assuming this is something important?"

Tooth gasped, and fluttered forward, carefully, delicately taking it out of his hand, holding it with her fingertips. "Yes! Oh, this was a gift from my mother… it's part of what helped me become the Tooth Fairy…" She trailed off, staring at the tiny box adoringly, until Jack cleared his throat.

"Was that what you were looking for?" Jack asked, curious. It may have been a precious object… but he wasn't sure how that could help them keep Pitch from causing any more damage, nor was he sure how it could help reverse the damage Pitch had caused.

Tooth flushed briefly again. "Ah. Oh, no. But it gives me an idea…" she slowly flew back up to the shelf, which had a couple of fluffy stuffies on them. What they were of, Jack couldn't tell, though he thought one was a purple bear. Tooth shuffled around briefly, before he heard a faint "Ah, here it is!" That proclaimed a victory.

He leaned against his staff, waiting patiently for her to reveal just what it was that she was looking for. Holding it almost as delicately as she had held the red wooden box, she landed next to him, and handed him the object. It was a Memory box. One with a picture on the end that looked much like him, but with brown hair. "Is this… is this… me?" he asked, tentatively.

Tooth nodded, biting her lip. "You mentioned earlier that you didn't remember your past," She flushed again. "I… since you became Jack Frost… I kinda… well, started hanging onto the teeth… since I could sometimes look at it and...well… think of you."

Jack stared down at the small memory box in his hand. "Should I… should I open it?" He asked. He was nervous. It was his memories. Something he had been searching for almost his whole life, and before he knew it, it was staring him in the face.

Tooth looked back up at him. "That's your decision. But… it may help you find out who you are."

Jack looked back down at the Memory Box. _His_ Memory Box. Should he open it? His mind battered the idea back and forth, and before he could stop himself, his finger reached forward of its own accord, to trace the diamond pattern.

Jack gasped faintly, as a golden light enveloped him, and threw him back into a memory. It was him, on the ice of the pond in Burgess, with a little girl on the ice. She had brown hair, and brown eyes, which he saw when she looked up at him. The ice was cracking beneath her ice skates. "Jack?" She asked him for reassurance. "I'm scared."

Suddenly, he saw himself. With brown eyes, and hair that was as brown as his eyebrows. He was wearing a sort of cloak, like colonial style clothing, and the girl-his sister, he remembered, Pippa, wore a dress.

"Ah-I know, I know," He put a bare foot down on the ice, hearing and watching it crack beneath his own foot as well. He looked back up at her. "But, you're gonna be alright. You're not gonna fall in."

He looked back down at the ice. "Uh…" An idea struck him, and he looked up at her. "We're gonna have a little fun, instead."

"No, we're not!" Pippa cried out in dismay.

"Would I trick you?" Jack asked, to try to persuade his sister to trust him.

"Yes! You _always_ play tricks!" She continued, not sounding persuaded in the least.

"Awh.. Well, well no-no-not this time. I promise. I promise…" He looked over at her frightened face, a calming, reassuring smile on his own. "You're gonna be… You're gonna be fine."

She looked up, a little hope in her eyes, that maybe her big brother would be right, that everything would be fine. "You gotta believe in me," He pleaded.

She let out a breath, focusing on him. "You wanna play a game?" He asked, brightness coming into his voice. "We're gonna play hopscotch! Like we play every day," He glanced from the ice to Pippa once more, as a smile began to form on her face.

"It's as easy as one," He put a foot down on the ice, hearing it creak beneath his foot. Wincing, he looked back up at her, and quickly made a joke out of out, balancing on one foot and over-dramatically flailing, exclaiming "Woaaaah!" To make her giggle.

He succeeded, bringing a slight giggle out of her, and a full smile on her face. "Two…" He continued towards his staff… "Three!" He finished, nimbly, yet gently alighting next to his staff. He bent down, picking it up. "Alright…" He held it out slightly, ready to reach out and pull her towards him. "Ready,"

Pippa looked down at her ice skates, and started to try to move towards him, gasping as the ice cracked further under her feet. "One," he began. Pippa looked down at her ice skates, and started to try to move towards him, gasping as the ice cracked further under her feet. "That's it, that's it. Two," She started forward more, causing the ice to crack further. She gasped more in fear, struggling to get the air down her throat.

"Three!" Quickly, Jack lunged out with his staff, hooked the shepherd's hook of it around his sister and dragged her off of the cracked patch, tossing her safely onto thick ice, but tossing himself onto the cracked patch, with a grunt.

He sat up, and looked at her, she picked herself up, and grinned at him. He smiled, stood up, and started to reach for her, when the ice cracked further underneath him.

He looked down as it cracked, glancing up just long enough to see his sister reach out for him, calling out "Jack!" As he slipped beneath the icy water, and the moon filled his vision…

With a gasp, he was brought back into the present, with a worried Tooth _veeery_ close to him. He flushed and leaned back slightly. "Ah-um, Tooth?"

She let out a breath she'd apparently been holding in. Then, she immediately bombarded him with questions. "Are you ok? First you looked happy, then a little worried, then happy for a brief moment, then sad again. Are you alright? What happened?"

Jack blinked and looked down at the floor. "No-nothing happened. I just remembered my sister."

Tooth gasped, and her feathers fluffed up around her as she fluttered up to eye level with him. "A sister? You had a sister? Wow!" She flew around the room, bouncing onto the corner where most of the cushions were piled. "That's wonderful!"

Jack looked back down at the ground after following her flight with his eyes. "Yeah…" He replied sadly. "I guess it is…"

He let his eyes roam the room. Bright colors, not all of them necessarily meant to combine, were splashed across in various forms. Pillows, cushions, wall hangings, small fluffy things. Then Jack's gaze came to rest on the closet. An idea came to him, partially to bring the attention off of him, partially because he was genuinely curious.

"Hey, Tooth?" He called to get her attention. She looked up at him, and he nodded in the direction of the closet. "You normally have your feathers most of the time. I've never seen you wear a dress or something like that."

Tooth flushed. "I, ah, yeah. Most of the time it helps me to stay just in feathers…" She looked over at the closet. "But in there… are gifts. Gifts from various people around the world who just… appreciate what I do. Gifts from people who like who I am. Gifts that aren't cushions or stuffed animals, but clothes. And granted, I don't wear them often… just… when I'm alone…"

Jack leaned against his staff, and debated whether he should follow on his impulse or not. Finally, his mind just quit playing ping-pong with the idea, and threw it out the window, going "Forget it, just go for it."

Taking a deep breath, he took the jump and hoped his bungee cord didn't snap. "Well, I'd like to see you in one of them. Would you mind showing me?" He asked, his hand curled around his staff, its grip tightening with his nerves, as said nerves climbed the metaphorical wall. He struggled to seem as calm as when he'd first entered the room.

Tooth's head jerked back up, looking straight at him, a look of surprise with a hint of shock and joy on her face. "You-you mean it?" She asked, cautiously.

Jack flushed, and brought his left hand (the one not holding the staff) up to rub the back of his neck, looking sheepishly at the ground. "Y-yeah. May I… see you in one?"

Jack realized that perhaps that might not have been something that he should have asked, suddenly. Tooth just kinda gaped at him in astonishment, as he stared at the ground, glancing at her from time to time. Then, after a couple minutes, she grinned. "I'd love to!" She exclaimed.

Cautiously, Jack lifted his eyes to her grinning face. "A-are you sure?" He asked cautiously. "You were pretty quiet for a bit of a while…"

Tooth nodded. "Well, it's just… no one's ever asked to see me dressed up before…" She trailed off, a blush alighting on her cheeks. "So… I was kinda surprised when you asked."

Jack kept flushing, but his hand simply rested on the back of his neck. He looked up at her, and a gentle smile came upon his lips, similar to the smirk he always wore… but kinder.

They stayed that way for a moment, in the happy silence, he staring into her magenta eyes, she staring into his blue ones. Then, Tooth's feathers fluffed up as her mind shocked her back into reality, and she flew into the closet, shutting the door behind her, and vanishing behind the wall.

Jack chuckled, and sat down like he had on the table at the pole, taking his feet out from beneath him, and kinda drifting down to sit. He looked at the room around him.

It suited Tooth perfectly. It was organized chaos, was what it was. A whirlwind of color, and material, yet it made sense to him. Most of the room was for relaxing-unsurprising, since she was almost always on duty. It was always night _somewhere_ in the world-but there were a couple of trinkets around the room, and the closet.

_ Come to think of it… why _did _she have my teeth in her room?_ Jack realized. She didn't seem to have any other teeth in her room.

Quietly, he put it back next to the red box, before returning to his seat, waiting. He heard rustling around, but tried to ignore it before his teenage mind came up with an image he really didn't want to face.

Suddenly, the world around him started warping. He jumped up, gripping his staff tightly, as the world warped and twisted like taffy being pulled and twirled in a strange fashion. Then, before he knew it, the brightly colored, gold, lush bedroom he had been in, had morphed into a forest.

The first thing that came to his mind was Tooth. Was she safe? "Tooth?!" He called out. Oh, gods… what had happened?!

"I'm over here!" Came the reply from some distance away. He relaxed a little bit. She was still alive, and she was with him, wherever they were.

"Hold on a bit, I'm coming!" He called back. Then he called up the wind to boost him up into the air to find her easier-or tried to, that is. The thing was, the wind didn't respond.

Surprised, he looked around. His staff was still in his hand… but it didn't have the unmelting frost covering it. He looked down at himself, shivering in the cold. Cold? He was _never_ cold… or rather, he never felt the cold.

His brown pants didn't have the frost around the cuffs. And his pale blue hoodie didn't have the frost on the shoulders or cuffs or hems either.

Panicking, he rushed towards the sound of water, a river. What had happened? Was he still Jack Frost? Or was he-

He looked down into the water. Thankfully, it was a calm part of the river, so it showed his reflection. But what he saw panicked him further.

His hair was brown. So were his eyes. Just like before he died.

His first thought was: What happened?

His second was: If this is what happened to me, what happened to Tooth?

"Tooth!" His voice climbed registers as his fear grew. A part of his mind told him to shut up and calm down, he was likely making Pitch the strongest fucking thing on the god-be-damned planet, but he ignored it.

"JaaaAAAAAAACK!" She replied, her voice growing louder and shriller, likely from the panic of realizing that her powers were gone, just like his.

He raced through the forest, running straight for the source of the voice. Suddenly, he hit another clearing, like the one he had been in, only in the center of it a young girl about 16 years old, sat, looking worriedly at herself.

She sat, legs curled up slightly, and to the side. She was twisting her arms around, looking at them frantically. Black hair fell down her back, and some sat on the ground as well. She was wearing a dark blue dress, backless, and when she turned her head, Jack thought he caught a glimpse a tattoo on her shoulder-blades. Her skin was slightly darker than his own.

He slowed down, carefully approaching her. Then he heard her. "Oh… oh no… where are they? Where's my feathers? My wings… what happened?" She was muttering to herself.

Pity and sadness overtook him, and before she even realized he was there, he had ducked down and wrapped his arms around her from behind in a gentle hug. She tensed for a moment, then recognized the long arms and blue hoodie, and relaxed. "Oh, Jack, what happened to me?"

He replied softly, his voice thick with grief and fear. "It happened to both of us. We're in our mortal forms."

With a gasp, Tooth whirled around. She had retained her magenta eyes, and curiously enough, in place of her gold feather, was a golden circlet. Jack sat back slightly, so she could take him in, as he took her in.

Her dress was simple, and though it was clearly designed to accommodate her wings and tail feathers, it worked on her as a human just as well, maybe better. The deep blue showed a hint of cleavage, and the front top looked somewhat like a butterfly in the way it was gathered. The rest of it was form-fitting to her waist, where it became loose and flowing.

As Tooth looked him up and down, her eyes widened. "Jack… your eyes… and hair… they changed!" She exclaimed in surprise.

He smirked, though the signature look was slightly dampened by the sadness behind it. "You don't honestly expect that I had white hair like an old man since birth, do you?"

She blushed slightly. "Well… no… but I was a little surprised that your eyes changed," She looked up at him, a little worried. "Have… have my eyes changed too?" She asked tentatively.

Jack shook his head. "No, they are the same magenta. Though you have long black hair now…" He trailed off as she sighed and looked down at her hands.

"I know. This is probably how I would have looked had I continued growing like a normal human, rather than morphing into the half-hummingbird creature I became."

She looked so sad, so dejected, that he reached over and pulled her close to him in a hug. She sighed, and leaned closer against him, her back against him, his arms loose around her comfortingly.

That comfort and peace was quickly demolished when two hunters burst on scene, a guy and a girl, looking at them accusingly like they had just stolen a prized possession.

The guy had dark brown hair, darker than Jack's, and grey eyes. He looked about 6'1", and was fairly sturdily built… definitely looked more muscled than Jack was.

The girl, on the other hand, looked to be the more dangerous of the two, despite the fact that she had her hair—the hair and eyes seemed to match—braided to the side, and looked weaker and non-threatening. Jack got the same feeling he got off of a panicked animal: Scared, cornered, and with almost nothing to lose.

The girls eyes flicked between the two of them.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

-Hunger Games POV

Katniss breathed in deeply, surveying her surroundings. She was tense, she had been ever since the end of the Games, three months ago. She blinked back images of each of the tributes dying, some by her hand, some because she couldn't save them.

"Katnip?" Gale asked cautiously, after she hadn't moved for several minutes. "Katnip, you okay? Is everything alright?"

Katniss nodded. "Yeah, Gale. Everything's fine."

She could tell he didn't believe her. She didn't blame him. Sometimes, it was hard for her to convince herself she had finally escaped the Games. That the snap of a twig was not a potential enemy, but a mere woods creature, providing sustenance after she reflectively snapped off an arrow into it.

Gale sometimes joked about how she got more food than ever, now. She never kept tally, but she supposed it was true. She was giving more food than before to Gale's family, to keep from raising suspicion at the Hob. She didn't want them to start asking her more questions about her hunting out in the woods. Yes, she knew she didn't have to… but she was more comfortable there, and didn't know anything else. At least being with Gale had made her more comfortable, being in the woods, free from the press of people, free from the worry that at any moment, she could wake up, finding it was all a dream, and she was still in the games.

She sometimes wished Peeta had survived instead of her. She could barely stand the nightmares, the bloodbath, Rue's death, the mutts, and especially of Peeta death from his infected leg. Gale and Katniss had been hunting a lot more since the mines exploded, caused when one of the gas lamps broke and caught fire.

Images of the Hunger Games flashed through her mind. The images seemed to come alive and haunt her. Katniss immediately panicked, and could barely breath. " Katnip! Calm down! Everything is okay!" She heard Gale say, though it sounded far away.

She began to hyperventilate. "Gale? Gale?!" She called out, hearing the fear in her voice. Flashes of Rue's and Peeta's deaths began to repeat in her mind, driving home the fact that it was _she_ who survived, not either of them. That Rue's family had lost a little girl. That Peeta's mother was likely mourning the loss of their boy. Strong hands gripped her shoulders and shook her briefly.

"Katnip! Katnip! Get ahold of yourself!" It was Gale. "You're home! You're here, in the woods, at home! You're free of the games! It's all over, Prim is safe, your mother is safe, my family is safe, we're all safe! We're here. We're okay," Gale began to calm down, to slow down, as her breathing slowed. Between the flashes of Peeta's and Rue's death, Katniss could see the surrounding forest. Her laboured breathing slowed. "You're here. You're home, Katnip. You're here… with me," Gale patted her leg comfortingly, bringing her fully out of the nightmarish flashbacks. She turned to him, slowly calming down.

A crash could be heard, then came the screaming voices. Katniss raced off towards the sound. Leaping over tree roots and ducking under branches. She came to a clearing and stopped. In the middle of the clearing, there was a boy who looked to be about 17 or 18 years old and a girl who looked to be around 16. The girl was leaning against the guy, and had been relaxed before Katniss and Gale burst into the clearing.

The boy had brown hair and eyes. He had pale skin, and looked about 6' feet tall. He wore a pale blue hoodie, and worn brown pants… but he was barefoot. _Who in their right mind would be barefoot in this cold?_ Katniss thought to herself.

The girl however, had beautiful magenta eyes and black hair. She like the boy, had pale skin. She looked about 5'2'', and wore a beautiful dark blue dress, made out of a material Katniss couldn't identify. She had a golden circlet around her forehead, and matching blue slippers that looked as durable as leather on her feet.

Katniss looked suspiciously from one to the other, as they looked back at her fearfully. "Who are you?" She demanded.

* * *

**_Thank you for reading so far! This piece of work is by both Firelicious and Vasudha._**

**_Cover art is by braidsandarrows, on deviantart. (Fantastic photo, Firelicious and I just couldn't resist it!)_**

**_Oof, we had too much fun writing the chapter. Future chapters may be shorter or the same length... hopefully not longer. It's 11 pages on Open Office!_**

**_Reviews are much adored and appreciated, we love to hear what you guys think of the story so far! Suggestions as to what will happen later wouldn't be bad either ;)_**

**_May the odds be Ever in your favor..._**

**_-Vasudha & Firelicious_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: We do not own Rise of the Guardians or Hunger Games. (We wish we did, but we don't, we own fans and dictionaries, but not epic stories) Thank you.**_

_Vasudha:Thank you for reading our story so-Firelicious, what are you doing?_

**Firelicous: Eating chocolate. And working on the next chapter.**

_Vasudha: No! No, don't write the next chapter like THAT, write it like THIS! We were gonna have that later! Wait… is that? OH MY GODS, FIRELICIOUS WHAT HAS POSSESSED YOU TO WRITE THAT!?_

**Firelicious: Oooh! Vasudha, can we invite some Characters to answer questions from the readers?**

_Vasudha: Depends… NO SPOILERS though! If they start with the spoilers, you have full permission to use those moose tranquilizer guns we have in the back. We can't let the readers know about the rest of the story yet!_

**Firelicous: I thought we only used those when we were being attacked by large mobs of people.**

_Vasudha: When the need arises… And here I thought you would be jumping for joy on being able to use those suckers. We can't use the flamethrowers, we need them alive. No, put that down. We can't use machine guns either._

**Firelicious: AWW... okay. Can I use my bow instead?**

_Vasudha: NO, we can't seriously injure them either. We'd have to go on an especially long hiatus while they recover, and they might be DEAD. I'm not giving you the chance to shoot President Snow in the heart and call it an "accident" because he was supposedly about to give away stuff._

**Firelicous: Fine then!**

_Vasudha: *rolls eyes* And now, onto the story, Readers!_

-Gale's POV

The pair looked at each other and the boy stuttered out "...Jack. Jack. Yeah, I am Jack and this is…"

"Alice," The girl replied. "Alice is the name. Would you mind telling us where we are?" Her tone was mostly calm, but it shook a little toward the end.

"Yes I do mind! You shouldn't be here." Was Katniss's curt reply. _Aw, shit! They haven't spoken to us five minutes, and Catnip is already pissed off!_ Gale thought to himself.

"Katniss, do they _look_ harmful to you? They don't have any weapons and they look quite weak.. Don't you think that is enough?" Gale protested, for their sake. They looked somewhat bewildered.

"We _are_ still here, you know that, right?" The girl called out to us. "We haven't magically disappeared."

The sarcasm in her voice was painfully clear, and the boy glanced at her warningly. The girl, in return, shot him a glare as if she were trying to burn two holes into his head. If looks could kill Gale figured this Jack guy would be dead.

He cleared his throat, taking charge of the situation since it seemed like Katniss was still far too suspicious of them. "If you wouldn't mind, Jack, Alice, would you please tell us _why_ you are here?" Gale had to admit, he was pretty curious. What were two teenagers doing in the middle of the woods, one of whom seemed to be in a dress meant for special occasions?

The two glanced between each other, a glance that spoke volumes of fear. Gale narrowed my eyes slightly. The two turned back to us, and this time, the boy spoke. This time, he seemed to have recollected himself, and he spoke with manners that had seemed nonexistent before. "We'd rather not… We have no idea where we are, someone is pointing weapons at us, and we have no idea what danger could be lurking in the shadows. At this point, we don't have much of a reason to talk like human beings. You can see the only weapons we have-my staff-so why do you continue to see us as threats?"

Katniss and Gale shared a glance. Were these two _idiots_? They seemed completely oblivious of the Capital, and the Twelve Districts, not to mention peacekeepers, and the mutations the Capital sent against us. Who were these people?

Gale turned back to look at the two of them again. Katniss took her turn to speak. "I guess you've got a point… but if you think that the only dangers you have in the woods are the standard wolves and bears, you've got it wrong. I've got no idea where you've come from, to not know about the Capital, but if you don't know about them, then you'll be dead before you set foot in one of the Districts."

Both of them gained a confused look on their face. _Uh-oh. This does not bode well._ We had two ignoramuses dumped on us, who seemed to have come from nowhere—_And how have they made it this far, with one of them not wearing any shoes?_ Alice had soft blue slippers that matched her dress, but Jack was barefoot. My curiosity continued to grow. The boy should have gotten frostbite by now—it was a wonder he hadn't.

Katniss sighed, the very sigh embodying Gale's distress and annoyance. "Oh, to _hell_ with it all!" She muttered. Turning to head back to the Seam. He reached out and caught her shoulder before she could take more than two steps.

"Wait, Katniss," Gale hissed. "Should we take them back, or leave them? They don't look like they'd last long if we left them…"

Katniss looked as though something flashed across her mind, as her eyes unfocused for a moment before focusing on him. She leaned in closer to his face. "Looks can be deceiving, Gale," She hissed, angrily. "That's a lesson that you should have learned from watching the Games."

That was a stinging remark. Though he hadn't participated in the games, she was right, he had seen them. He had seen too many Tributes deceive one another. _Still…_ Gale's eyes flicked back to the pair. Jack had his arm protectively around Alice, who was rubbing her arms and shivering. Gale sighed, then flicked his gaze back to Katniss, who was awaiting his reply about four steps further into the woods, under the shade of an oak.

"Katniss, while it's all well and good to anticipate danger, do you see either of them coming to attack us in our sleep? The boy is _barefoot_, for Pete's sake, and the girl is shivering to bits! Look at her and tell me you wouldn't be able to see Prim in her place, shivering, alone, and in an unknown place!"

Gale hated using that reason against her, but he knew it would work. Something told him to be wary of them, but Katniss was being prickly. Her current reaction was something he'd expect from a Peacekeeper, not the Catnip he'd hunted with for so long.

Katniss flicked her eyes back to the pair, her gaze lingering on Alice. She exhaled, then gave Gale a glare that told him that she knew that he knew that he had pulled out a reason he'd known _full well_ was taking advantage of emotions. But she relented.

"If you want to survive the next twenty-four hours," she called back over her shoulder to the pair. "You'd better keep up, and do as we say. If you fit in any less, then the Peacekeepers'll have you strung up before the whole of District 12."

Jack and Alice looked gratefully at the both of us, and Jack nodded towards Gale with respect. He likely guessed at the move Gale had just pulled, but Gale didn't dwell on it for long. Instead, he moved a touch more to the side, to allow the two to pass.

The brilliant colors of the fall leaves shaded them as they headed back towards the Seam. The brilliant colors painting the horizon, making it look like a painting one would see in town—if someone had the money to buy a painting, rather than to keep surviving. Lately, all the money in District Twelve seemed to be sucked down into the living hell we call the Capital. Gale worried about what would eventually happen to everyone living in the District. Something was just not right, lately.

Turning back to the three ahead of him, he took in the emotions written in their postures. Jack looked somewhat confident, but wary. His straight back and shoulders belied his confidence, yet he looked around, glancing, sometimes turning his head at any slight sound.

Alice, however, looked mostly nervous, yet slightly hopeful. Her shoulders were hunched, and she glanced around furtively, sticking close to Jack. It didn't escape Gale's attention that Jack had one hand clenching his staff, while the other gently lay across her shoulders, assuring her that he was right there. Yet, whenever Alice glanced back at him, Gale saw not only fear, but the touch of hope in her eyes, a touch of hope that perhaps _something_ would go right, would make sense, would be… safe.

Katniss was simply pissed off at the whole world it seemed. She held her back and shoulders stiffly, and moved branches out of the way only for herself. She didn't like, and didn't trust, the two newcomers. Gale could understand that, having been her friend, and seeing the transformation for her, after having lost the only other District Twelve Tribute to the horrendous Capital's idea of "fun" and almost losing her sister. Not to mention that little Tribute from District 11. Even I had noticed the resemblance to Prim. The little one shouldn't have died, especially for some cruel person's amusement.

Gale clenched his jaw, but continued onward, doing his best to hide his anger, in case Alice looked back and thought the anger was directed at her. It was bad enough that Katniss openly hated them, and was pissed at Gale for pulling a wretched move to let them live. But if they thought that Gale hated them too, they would see themselves as prisoners, and who knew what they would do then.

As Katniss and Gale traveled, they gathered what game they had hunted, or snared, and continued onward towards the fence. Alice looked distressed by the dead animals, but Jack simply shrugged it off, as if it was nothing new to him. He did inspect the traps though, and made some sounds that indicated that he was impressed with it. Gale wondered briefly if Jack had ever made a snare before.

Soon enough, though, the fence showed itself, and Katniss slung the game over the fence, as did Gale. Jack inspected the fence, looking curious. Alice just looked shocked to shit by the fact that a fence—she also seemed to recognize that it was supposed to be an electrified one—surrounded the civilization. Shocked enough to speak.

"Wha-what is that fence for?" She asked tentatively, fear resounding through the sentence. Gale glanced back at her, as did Katniss. However, Katniss thawed enough to answer, something Gale didn't expect.

"The Capital claims that it's to protect us from whatever's in the forest," She explained, nodding her head in the direction of the brilliantly colored woods. "However, just about everyone knows that it's to keep us _in_."

Alice's jaw gaped. And Katniss's softer look turned into a hard glare. "Or keep strangers like _you_ from coming in."

She whipped around, arms crossed, to glare at them. "I want to know, and I want to know _now_, before I possibly unleash whatever damage you are upon my families. _Why are you here?_"

"Katniss…" Gale called out pleadingly. Katniss simply turned the glare onto him.

"No. I want to know it. I'm not letting Prim get hurt!" She snapped.

Gale sighed, and turned back to the pair ruefully. "Do you mind giving us a moment to talk?" He asked.

Jack and Alice nodded in response. "We don't mind," Jack replied.

Gale turned back to Katniss, to find her looking ready to explode. Gently taking her arm, and sending brief prayers to whatever might listen that he would live beyond this day, Gale led her a little bit away from the other two.

The minute that they were far enough away that Gale deemed it good to stop, Katniss blew up. "What the hell was that?! You do realized that you just gave them some time to come up with some phony answer, right?! They could be from the Capital, to kill us! They could be here as spies for President Snow! They could be here from some place more malicious than the Capital, though even _that's_ hard to imagine!"

"Catnip, don't you think that if they were going to kill us, they would have done so already?! President Snow may be a horrible _creature_, but if he did have spies they would _not_ be wearing dresses and they might actually have shoes!"" Gale exclaimed, his patience finally running out. "Just because we don't know them, doesn't mean that they're as evil as the Careers!"

"That doesn't mean we should trust them fully and have them live amongst us!" Katniss exclaimed.

"Then don't have them live with you, have them live in your old house." Gale reasoned. " We can't just leave them here to die."

Katniss looked back at the pair, who huddled together in the cold. It was clear they wouldn't last a week before the cold took them. "Fine! You win this time, but mark my words Gale, you will pay me back!" Katniss relented finally. They shared a good natured laugh and went back to Jack and Alice.

"Hey," Gale called out to them, bringing their heads up. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to, we just want to be sure you don't intend to kill the whole District."

Immediately, Jack's brows drew together in confusion. "Who would want to? That's too many innocent lives, too many children. That's a whole group of people suffering as they shouldn't. Why would we want to murder them? We aren't twisted psychos."

"Could've fooled me." Katniss snarked, which earned her a glare from Gale." What? You never said I had to be nice." She replied simply.

"I thought it was pretty clear that it was implied. But if you did not catch on, yes you have to be nice." Gale reprimanded.

"Ugh!" Was Katniss's short reply.

"Again! We are still here! We have not left!" Alice yelled back at the pair, her frustration practically screaming that it existed. Katniss glanced back at the strangers, a little more accepting of them, with the piece of proof that they were real people.

Katniss sighed. Eyebrows raised, Gale glanced over at her. "So? Will you accept them? I agree that we should watch them, but maybe... Just maybe... Give them a chance?".

Katniss looked from Gale to the pair. The two were huddled together against the cold, and Jack took off his jacket to keep Alice warm. He had remained for the most part, standoffish and unfriendly, but had, in that single action, revealed that he had a heart.

Revealed that he was much like Katniss herself.

Gale turned his attention back to Katniss, glad to see her face soften, seeing something she could relate to. Though Jack had no shoes, and his pants were about five inches short, he gave his hoodie to Alice, who was clearly as fragile as Prim. The simple action of giving whatever he could give resonated with Katniss, Gale could tell. And while Gale himself was suspicious about them—he found the scene absolutely heart-warming, and it gave him hope that he could completely trust them one day.

Another sigh brought him out of his thoughts, and he turned to find that Katniss was standing, and heading toward the pair. "Alright, we'll take you to the Seam, where you can rest until you find someplace better. We still want to know why you're here, but we'll wait for now."

She paused for a moment, taking in the blatant relief in their faces. Jack hid it slightly better, but Alice couldn't at all, and revealed everything to their eyes. "Come on, we shouldn't waste any time. We'll get you set up in my old house, and get you fed before it gets dark. Not to mention…" Katniss looked Alice up and down, ignoring the blush of the latter as she took in her garb with a calculating gaze. "Not to mention, we should get some clothes for you that fit in better. Those look nice, but people will assume you're from the Capitol in clothes like that, though admittedly with better taste."

Though Alice continued to blush, she nodded with a determined look on her face, and followed Katniss and Gale—Jack close behind her—as they led the way under the fence and through the Seam, Katniss going on to make some trades and grab some clothes, Gale leading them through less-traveled pathways to avoid attention.

Finally, they arrived at the old cabin-like house. The house on the outside was made with worn down wood that was a pale dirty gray with yellow paint that was seemed as if there was more that had chipped off than actually on it. Gale led the two inside so they could have a look around. Inside of the house everything seemed to have a layer of coal dust that had floated through the air and settled itself on everything in the District. The floors were all made out of wood. There was a brick fireplace on which was also a mirror. The pair of strangers wandered around the rest of the house. The bedroom was simple with two small beds and a dresser. The bathroom had a small toilet a large bucket for washing up in and a sink. They finally met up in front of the fireplace in the main room, Gale looking expectantly at the pair. While Alice looked curious about her surroundings, something about Jack made Gale believe that the boy had been in a scenario like this once before.

"So, will this place do?" Gale asked, breaking the silence. To his surprise, Jack took charge, as Alice was overwhelmed by the situation.

"Yes, this'll do just fine. Sturdy walls, a roof over our heads, and a place to build a fire. That's the basic needs for survival, in a shelter at least."

Gale looked over the brunette again, his respect growing for the boy. He looked slightly younger than Gale himself, but Gale had a feeling that in some ways, the boy was wise beyond his years. Gale nodded in response. "Alright, can you cook?"

Jack nodded once more. "Yes, as long as I have the supplies. He took in Gale's game bag. You have a family, don't you? If you want, I can cook for everyone," Jack tilted his head to the side, his brown eyes slightly unfocused. "A stew, I think… seems the best way to stretch the resources and keep everyone eating about the same amount of meat and vegetables, or herbs."

His eyes unfocused slightly, and he straightened his head. "How many?" He asked.

The question took Gale by surprise. Alice left them to explore the house a bit more, and Gale tuned out her sneezes from the coal dust, as he attempted to process what the boy had just said. "What do you mean, 'how many?'"

Jack nodded at him. "How many in your family? I just offered to cook for the whole family, and you haven't declined, so I'm going to go ahead and cook for everyone. I figured a stew would make the most sense, since if I'm eating what everyone else is eating, you can't accuse me of trying to poison your family. If I attempted to, and gods only know how, I would probably poison myself well before that, since I can't cook without tasting the food. So, how many?"

Gale blinked, then answered without thinking. "Four, five including me, so that would be—"

He broke off as Jack interrupted. "Seven including Alice and I. Would Katniss, or any of her family, be joining?"

"Will Katniss be joining what?" A familiar voice asked. Gale looked over at the door to see Katniss kicking it closed behind her. She looked curious, and less suspicious now.

Gale decided to explain, before Jack could, in case Katniss still didn't trust the two newcomers. "Jack's thinking of making a stew for everyone. Do you want to bring Prim and your mother over for dinner? Not to mention you should eat as well, of course, but I took it as given that you would eat something anyways."

Katniss frowned slightly, and looked thoughtful. "Lemme guess, Jack came up with a stew so that he could gift us without making us think he's poisoning us, right?" At Jack's nod, she continued. "Well, you're right. How come you can understand how distrustful we are?"

Jack looked hesitant for a moment. "Because… I was like that once myself. Sometimes, I still am…" He looked back over at Tooth, who was having a sneezing attack as she looked around the bedroom, with the door open. "If it weren't for Alice… and the others... I would probably still be like that. Not to mention I would be alone. For the rest of my existence."

Katniss blinked. Gale looked back at the teen thoughtfully. The boy sounded like Katniss… except it sounded, from the pain, the despair, and the loneliness in his voice, like he had been through much more.

Shaking his head, Jack spoke once more, sounding more determined, and hopeful. "So, are you going to give me the number of people I'm cooking for, or not?" He asked, in a tone that said something along the lines of 'Answer-me-or-I-will-answer-myself'.

Katniss looked back at him, relaxed more than she had been since Jack and Alice came into District Twelve. "Ten to cook for. Prim, my Mother, and I will be joining you. I'll try and pick something up from the Hob."

With that, she turned, and stalked out the door, likely heading towards the Hob first, though perhaps Victory Village to gather her family.

Gale smiled slightly, and turned back to Jack. "Congratulations, strange one. You have managed to gain Katnip's trust in a mere day. The only one you haven't beaten is me."

Jack simply chuckled in response. "I'm gonna assume she smiles once a year, if that, since I doubt even she could keep a smile off her face for longer than that, especially with the closeness between you two."

Gale looked back in the direction Katnip had just left. He contemplated the closeness between Katnip and he, and smiled slightly, softly. "Yeah… she smiles every once in a while. But a smiling Katnip is a rare species, so don't expect to see it in your lifetime. Not many people do."

Jack smirked in response. "That doesn't stop me from trying."

The tone in his voice spoke volumes of mischief, and Gale glanced over to find him with a look on his face that belied plans of pranks—and from an experienced planner, at that.

Gale chuckled slightly, thinking of some ideas of what Katnip might have to endure. "Just go easy on her at first, she's only just started to trust you."

Jack's smirk only grew larger. "Easy? What is this strange word you speak of?" Gale rolled his eyes. Katnip was going to have to deal with a lot of new things in her life, that was for sure.

* * *

_Vasudha: Well, that's it so far. We're already starting on the next chapter, as Firelicious hinted at. And because we have all sorts of fun with this story so far, I might put up another one (Written by MYSELF, Firelicious. I can't little it with Flamethrowers with multiple ice users!) that's a Disney/Dreamworks mashup._

_But that's enough about my story, more than enough really. Please Read and Review this one! We'd love to hear any ideas, though we have the sketchy bones of the story so far. Hopefully, next chapter will have our Bad Guys enter in! The excitement builds..._

_Ta ta for now, Lovelies!_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 4:

_Disclaimer: We do not own ROTG or Hunger Games, we aren't that awesome. One day, we might be equally awesome, but that day is not today._

* * *

Tooth POV

Heading to bed, Tooth sighed as she flopped into the odd mattress. It wasn't like anything she'd seen in ages. She _had_ lived over four hundred years, but that didn't mean that she'd been scrutinizing the mattresses that children were sleeping in. Before she could speculate much about the living conditions of the past and present, her ears picked up sounds she couldn't identify from outside the room.

Curious, she headed towards the sounds, finding Jack in the kitchen. "What are you doing?" She asked. He started, and glanced back to her, before turning his attention back to whatever he was doing. She could tell it used water, she heard it, and she could hear some muffled clinking, but he himself was blocking her view-unintentionally, but he was-so she had no idea what he was doing.

"Washing the dishes," He replied. He sounded… unlike himself. Tooth couldn't pin it down as to exactly how. Both of them were silent for a bit. Tooth didn't know what to do, she hadn't grown up with much of anything like dishes, let alone washing them. She had fetched water, she had gathered food, but she had lived in Africa hundreds of years ago, in a tribe, not in the civilized European or Asian places the other Guardians seemed to come from.

"So, 'Alice'?" Jack questioned. "Where did that name come from?" He seemed curious… but still unlike the curiosity she knew so well. This wasn't like Jack Frost. It was still Jack… but perhaps he was more like the Jack before the Frost?

"This place… everything that happened… it reminds me of a book I once heard being read to a child. 'Alice in Wonderland', I think it was called. The name's anonymous enough, and it is something that would hide behind something obvious: the very place people wouldn't look to find. Toothiana is an unusual name, I knew as well as you that I couldn't use that alias. So I thought fast while you were talking."

More silence ensued, only disturbed by slight splashing sounds, scrubbing sounds, and the occasional clink of silverware or dishware colliding. Finally, Tooth spoke up. "Are you alright?"

Jack paused at that. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm alright. Why do you ask?" He turned back to the dishes, finishing up the rest fairly quickly, and picking up a ragged towel that Katniss had brought over for them to dry the dishes with.

Tooth was still skeptical. He was brushing it off, he'd paused, he was acting weird… she wasn't about to let this one slide. "Seriously, Jack. You've been acting a little… off for a bit of a while now. What's up?"

Jack sighed, put down the dish he was drying in the stack of them, and turned around to face her, leaning back against the table, and crossing his arms over his chest. "Tooth-Alice-" He sighed, closed his eyes and looked frustrated.

Softening, Tooth came over. "Just call me Alice, Jack. It'll make things easier. Still, what's up? Are you alright?"

Jack looked up at her, the stress written all over his face. "I've got a foot in both worlds, Tooth. A foot in both worlds, and they're stuck there, I can't get out."

Confused, Tooth's brow furrowed. "Jack, what do you mean?" He sounded forlorn, exasperated, and… exhausted. He had bent over, his hands on his knees, and if he weren't so lean, the table would've probably slid already. She put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

He straightened unexpectedly and pulled her into an abrupt hug. It was only a moment but it startled her into a gasp. He pulled away, and looked at the floor, his hands in his hoodie pocket. Tooth noticed his neck was almost tomato red, and guessed from the heat she felt in her cheeks that she was a similar color.

Her mouth opened and closed, but no matter how hard she tried, not a sound came out. It was like her brain had short-circuited. She couldn't tell what to think.

Her footing began to stumble, and she put her hand against the table for support. It landed a bit harder against the table than she had intended, and the sound brought Jack's attention back to her.

Shaking her head, she realized she was leaning all over the place, swaying forward, backward, sideways… she was loosing sense of direction.

She spun slightly and began falling backwards, caught by something. "Brain not working… can't tell what's causing it…" she murmured as the world became fuzzy.

"Tooth? Are you alright?" Jack asked her. She felt herself get lifted up, and sorta felt herself get carried out of the kitchen.

"Still a little woozy…" She mumbled, suddenly feeling something beneath her. It was definitely softer than a table or floor, but her brain was still mostly uncooperative. Jack crouched down beside her head.

"Tooth?" The concern in his voice was obvious, and it made her smile. She was piecing everything back together again, and her brain was beginning to cooperate.

She had hoped, ever since she had met Jack in the Globe Room-though admittedly it wasn't long-that he might have feelings for her. She wasn't sure how far those feelings went, but she hoped it was the same as hers.

"Tooth? Answer me?" Jack sounded panicked now. She kinda thought through a haze.

"I'm fine, Jack. I'm just exhausted, surprised… I haven't had this low of energy since I lost my last baby tooth…" She murmured. "I'm used to the energy of a hummingbird, have been for over four hundred and fifty years, at least. You know that.

"But the thing is, I got dropped into a strange world, in a human body, and I've been bouncing around like a hummingbird still. So I tired myself faster than I anticipated. And you surprised me when you hugged me… I wasn't anticipating that either. My brain kinda overloaded for a minute there."

Tooth was still smiling, and was glad to see Jack's smile of relief in return. _His teeth are still the color of freshly fallen snow. _She thought briefly, foggily, for a moment. Then she realized that she felt like a child, tired, physically ready for bed, but mentally still wanting to play.

"Hey, Jack?" She asked. She sounded tired, even to herself.

"Yeah, Tooth?" He replied.

"Could you tell me how you were… before I met you?" She asked, sleepily.

She thought he tensed, but through the fog of a sleepy mind, she couldn't tell. "I guess," He replied, sitting on the mattress-she had identified it as the mattress she had claimed in the room.

She sighed and curled up against him, causing him to shift her over, then lay down beside her, resulting in her curling up against his chest. He wrapped one arm protectively around her, propping his head up on his other hand. When he started talking, his voice was so soft it was nearly a whisper.

"300 years ago, before I was Jack Frost… I was Jackson Overlander. I was just a teenage boy in a colonial town, with a family, in a cabin. My sister and I… we used to love playing in the snow, every winter. We were in Burgess."

Tooth became slightly awake at that. "Burgess? Isn't that where-"

"Where Jaime lives? Yes, it is. Why do you think I hang around there so often? Even without my memories… it has the feeling of being _home_.

"Well, one winter, well, near the end of February, my sister begged me to take her ice skating. She had never been taught, and desperately hoped she would be before the end of this winter. I promised I would, and since there wasn't anything pressing the next day, that was the day she tugged me out to the forest, to get me to teach her how to ice skate."

He went quiet for a bit, and Tooth was quiet for a moment, letting him remember. He had only looked at his teeth a little bit ago. She had expected him to tell her of the 300 years of loneliness. She didn't expect this. "And?" She prodded gently.

"We lived almost right next to the lake. I remember my mom telling me 'Be careful' and I simply chuckled and replied 'We will be.'

"I had no idea how wrong I was."

Tooth opened her eyes, looking up at him, but he was looking over her head, to somewhere in the distant past.

"Next thing I knew, the ice was cracking underneath Pippa's feet. I had been stupid, I hadn't checked the ice, and it was all my fault. I untied my ice skates, and I grabbed my walking stick-Pippa always joked about it being my staff-and I hooked it around her waist, and tossed her away from the cracked patch safely…

"And tossing myself onto it."

Tooth gasped, fully awake now. What had happened? She was worried, and shocked, and she had an idea. This was the first time she had ever felt Jack _warm_. It couldn't though… It couldn't mean…

"I had just enough time to see her smile with relief before the ice cracked and I fell through."

Tooth gasped, and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. This apparently startled _him_ because he gasped and looked down abruptly, before relaxing and hugging her tightly back.

His voice dropped to a soft murmur, and Tooth worried for him. She hadn't anticipated this at all.

"Darkness. That was the first thing I remember… It was dark, and it was cold, and I was scared.

"But then, then I saw the moon." Tooth could hear the smile in his voice, and she looked up at him, to see him smiling gently. Not his usual, signature, smirk. But a real _smile_.

"It was so _big,_ and it was so _bright_… it seemed to… chase the darkness away."

He turned the smile down at her, and she felt herself smile a small smile in return. "And when it did… I wasn't scared anymore. Why I was there, and what I was meant to do… that I've never known," He shrugged slightly. "And a part of me wonders if I ever will."

"Didn't the moon tell you?" Tooth asked him. She almost slapped a hand over her mouth for interrupting him, but her question seemed to spur his narrative on.

"I saw a stick on the ground… I hadn't remembered that it was mine, but I touched it with my toe, and frost traveled throughout it. I picked it up to look at it, and the magic reacted so strongly that I was startled enough to drop it with one hand, and it started creating frost designs along the lake.

"I started having so much fun, that I directed the frost to grow all over the pond. You know the pond outside of Jaime's house?" At her nod, he continued. That's the one. And when the frost almost completely covered the pond, suddenly, the wind picked me up, and held me above the pond for a moment. The frost design looked a bit like the moon, really.

"Then, the wind abruptly stopped, and dropped me in a tree."

Tooth struggled to hide her giggle at that. Jack smirked. "I hit a couple of branches on the way down, I'll have you know. I finally smacked my face into one thick enough to support my weight, and caught sight of a town."

"I flew-struggling to gain control of this new ability-down to the village, landing face-first in a bunch of snow, with my cape thrown over me."

"Cape?" Tooth asked, curious, and thinking of Superman.

"Not a cape like superman, the colonial cape. A half a cloak." Jack explained. Tooth nodded her understanding, and he continued.

"I righted myself, and went around, greeting everyone. Then… I noticed something off, when I began to ask a woman where I was, and noticed she wasn't paying attention to me. I noticed a small boy running towards me, and I said 'Oh, excuse me, can you tell me where I am?' and I crouched down to his level… and he ran right through me, without a pause."

Tooth could hear the pain in his voice, the physical pain of him being walked through, lived again in his memories.

"I kept stumbling into people's paths, and getting walked through, I finally got out of the way, and looked at the moon again, as cold and unfeeling and distant as it remained for another three-hundred-fucking-years."

Tooth shot her head up, shocked at his language, and saw the anger written plainly on his face. Jack was almost always an open book.

"My name is Jack Frost, now. How do I know that? The Moon told me so. But that's all he ever told me. And that was a long, _long_ time ago."

The spitefulness in his voice somewhat surprised her, but not after thinking it over a moment. He had been left alone for three hundred years, and had been walked through, with no clue to anything except his name. The Moon had withheld all of that from him. He had a reason to be angry.

She laid her head against his chest, seeming to wake him up from his reverie. "You're safe now," She comforted him. "I'm here, and even if none of the other Guardians help after this-though I'm sure at least Sandy and North will, even Bunny, really-I will always be there to help. I wish I had given you your Teeth sooner."

She felt him kiss the top of her head, something that he did without thinking, she thought, as she noticed the back of his neck (that she could see) turn red. "Thank you, Tooth."

"Thank you for helping me, Jack."

Jack assented with a slight hum, and Tooth bit her lip slightly before deciding to just go ahead and ask Jack the question.

"Jack?"

"Hmm?" He replied.

"Could you… Could you sing me a lullaby?"

He chuckled nervously, before replying. "Sure… but my voice isn't that great… don't blame me if it's horrible."

_I remember tears streaming down your face,_

_When I said I'll never let you go._

_When all those shadows almost killed your li~ight._

_I remember you said_

'_Don't leave me a~lone'_

_But all that's dead and gone and past,_

_Toni~ight._

_Just close your eyes,_

_The sun is go~ing down._

_You'll be alright,_

_No one can hurt you now._

_Come morning light,_

_You and I'll be_

_Safe… and… So~ound._

_Don't you dare look out your window,_

_Darlin' everything's on fire._

_The war outside our door keeps raging o~on._

_Cur~led up_

_to~o this_

_Lu~lla~by._

_Even when the music's _

_Go~one._

_Go~one._

_Just close your eyes,_

_The sun is go~ing down._

_You'll be alright,_

_No one can hurt you now._

_Come morning light,_

_You and I'll be_

_Safe… and… So~ound…_

Gently, Jack hummed for a bit, a haunting melody that complimented the song.

_Just close your eyes…_

_You'll be alright…_

_Come morning light,_

_You and I'll be_

_Safe… and… So~ound..._

He hummed the end of the song,

the haunting melody

drifting Tooth softly into sleep.

Just before sleep claimed her, however, she heard him murmur. "Goodnight, Tooth." Before the darkness of a dreamless sleep took her.

* * *

Snow's POV

Snow was just looking at lists of rebels, trying to decide who to tell the Peacekeepers to kill when his office was filled with a laugh so chilling he could almost swear his once hot tea was now frozen. Out of the shadows a man with gold eyes and spiked up, black as a midnight sky hair. The man was dressed in all black and had a superior feeling to him.

"Excuse me?" Snow asked, affronted. He was, after all, the President of Panem. Just what did this mere _man_ have to do with him? "Would you mind telling me _exactly_ what you are doing in _my_ office? And you had better make it quick, before I call Peacekeepers on your ass."

Snow didn't like to be so… vulgar… usually, but he had been enjoying tea, and minding his own business, when some asshole-likely a rebel-had come strolling in and acting like he owned the place. He didn't exactly take to that kindly.

The man was handsome, Snow had to admit, but even his best men were not allowed in his office without an appointment. This man even had the gall to smirk at Snow. That did not help his mood in the matter.

"Sir, I must insist you leave now before I call in a group of Peacekeepers to take you out by force." Snow calmly said before checking his tea. It was indeed frozen. As the man came closer to his desk Snow felt as if the temperature of the room was slowly getting colder.

"Ah, but do you really think they'll make a difference?" The man drawled.

"What do you mean ' They won't make a difference'?" Snow demanded.

"I mean just that. Now here's the question," The man suddenly went from a slow demeanor to a quick and angry one, slamming his hands on Snow's desk, and snarling in his face. "Why aren't you afraid?" He demanded.

"What is there to be afraid of?" Snow questioned. The man looked a little taken aback. Snow smirked slightly. Was this the first time he had been challenged? Well, then. Snow would have to change that.

The man grinned sinisterly in reply, however. "Well, why don't you try calling your little 'peacekeepers' then? We'll just see how well they work against me?"

Snow looked the man over. "I think I'd rather have a talk with you, first. You seem to have a lot of bravado."

"As do you," The man replied.

Snow chuckled at that. "Oh, my. Where are my manners? The name's Snow."

"Pitch Black."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Black."

"Nice to meet you, Snow."

"Now… since you seem to be a man fond of causing fear in people… would you mind… aiding me, in this little project of mine?" Snow proposed.

"Oh? And what project might that be?" Pitch asked. His skin was looking more normal by the second.

"Quite simple. I am ruling an empire of districts. I need to keep them in line efficiently. What would be the most efficient? Fear. The Hunger Games have been managing that for 74 years… but I fear that now that control might be breaking."

Pitch frowned, perplexed. "The Hunger Games? And what's breaking it?"

"You really don't know about the Hunger Games? Hmm… intriguing. Once a year, the names of all the children aged 12-17 go into a bowl, a bowl for girls, and a bowl for boys. One girl and one boy is picked, to go into the Hunger Games. There, it is simple: A fight to the death. The last tribute standing is the victor. The only issue is that this past Hunger Games, a girl began to break the hold the Hunger Games holds over everyone. Just one girl. One girl, from the lowest District of the bunch!"

Pitch pursed his lips. "I think I know what you mean. One anomaly can make or break an entire issue. Do you know what you will do?"

Snow shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. If I kill her, in any form, the entire Capital will be up in arms against me, not to mention the Districts themselves. I can't have twelve districts and a city of idiots rising up against me! She's too popular. I can't accuse her of crimes, people would deny it for her. I can't kill her outright, that would incite a rebellion. I can't get rid of her!"

Pitch thought a moment. "How did she break the control?"

"She almost allowed two tributes to win the games."

"How?"

"She almost committed suicide at the same time as the other tribute. Our idiotic announcer let it slide, and we had to let the boy-who luckily enough, had an infected leg-die. We had to make a cover story, to keep the thread going. But those damn berries… they're popping up everywhere! People themselves aren't picking the goddamned things, but they're forming riots, ganging up on the peacekeepers, it's outrageous!"

"Hmm…" Pitch began. "I think I know how to help you in your little 'project'. What about causing nightmares?"

"What?" Asked Snow. He couldn't tell where on earth this was going. "Nightmares?"

"Give them something else to be afraid of. Not you and the Peacekeepers and something else you could do, no. Show them how much better life under you is."

"How?"

"Ruin it for someone else. Is there anyone else out there?"

"Only outlaws…"

"Bring them in, and show them that you are merciful to those who are innocent. Bring the outlaws to the capital, give them a chance to explain themselves. Then, explain away their explanation. Make them seem like they are breaking the country apart. Execute them, and make it seem like you are saving everyone. Is there anything that you can tell is going to happen for the next Hunger Games?"

"It's a Quarter Quell. I know that it's going to be something vicious."

"Do you know how vicious it's going to be?" Pitch seemed extremely interested in the subject. Snow had to admit, however, he was very clever on the matter of causing fear.

"No. I do know that it has been planned since the Hunger Games began." He responded.

"Do you know the plan?" Pitch incessantly questioned.

"No, though I know where it is. Why?"

Pitch's sinister grin returned. "Because that's where we are going to start. The Quarter Quell might go a little differently this year."

"Different how? If I may ask."

"Because this year you have a secret weapon."

"And what weapon, pray tell, would that be?"

"Me."

* * *

**Firelicious: DUN DUN DUNCE**

_Vasudha: XD_

**Firelicious: What? It seemed appropriate.**

_Vasudha: *After recovering from extreme laughter disorder (ELD)* Ahem. Well, how did you like that chapter? Reviews are like food to us, so please don't starve us, and the cookie of letting us know your ideas is a tempting treat. So please? Feed us?_

**Firelicious: Cut it off with the formal crap, it's annoying.**

_Vasudha: Why? I don't want to yet! *pouts*_


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